A few days later, the Holy Elsren Empire invasion force――the northern army, in a certain tent.

A map was spread open and about twenty men sat around it.

“They moved?”

“Yes, to the east……”

The blonde man sitting at the head of the table frowned as he listened to his subordinate’s report..

Aleha Klauzera Shuindel Sarshenka.

A general of the empire, one talented enough to rise to this rank at a young age without using his family’s power.

Aleha was born as the third son of a great noble and had no chance of succeeding the family.

So naturally he entered the army and with his abilities, he made many achievements on the battlefield and received the honourable, though noninheritable, title of Shuindel――paladin, directly from the emperor.

The title of paladin is an honorary rank that is a reward for military achievements and is the greatest honor that any soldier could receive.

Aleha received it in his thirties and as a renowned general of the empire, also made many contributions in this invasion.

His life was smooth sailing, nothing stood in his way――but now, wrinkles creased his brow.

He pondered the incomprehensible report he had just received.

“……why now?”

Aleha had spearheaded the invasion of the Kingdom’s eastern territories and has earned enough achievements.

He built the foundations for taking the impregnable fortress Wulfenite by taking down the Kingdom’s general, Carmeda.

His contributions are worthy of the title of paladin.

But earning too many achievements causes jealousy.

High society is a dangerous place.

Aleha is aware that many envy him and monopolising achievements would lead to more disadvantages than advantages in high society.

That is why Aleha left the taking of the major objective, Wulfenite, to others and also avoided the southern invasion, instead volunteering for the unappealing role of locking down the enemy’s forces.

Of course that was not all, it was also because the enemy this time was special for him.

――Bogan Argalitte Vezrinea Christand.

Alberan Kingdom’s famous northern general.

Aleha had suffered many defeats at the hands of Christand before becoming a general.

Christand’s attacks are relentless.

He would attack weak points, causing the formation to collapse, push through and deal critical damage in one strike.

If attacked, he would absorb it, then counterattack even harder.

His attacks are lightning quick and relentless, nobody could endure it and he has never lost a battle with equal numbers.

Aleha had already realised his talents when he faced Christand and had broken through Christand’s defenses many times.

But each time, the Christand army would break through the empire’s weak points even quicker, forcing Aleha to retreat despite his local victories.

Everybody focuses on Christand’s relentless attacks, but his army’s greatest strength is in their retreat.

The parts of his army at a disadvantage would have a multi-stage retreat planned out, allowing them to weaken the enemy’s momentum and buy time until a counterattack can deal a critical blow.

Aleha has read every record about Christand and has studied him more than anyone.

You could even say that Aleha managed to come this far by studying Christand’s many tactics.

Bogan Christand, the great commander that rose through the ranks with his abilities alone despite being born as a low-ranking noble.

Aleha has similar circumstances, being born as the third son and unable to succeed the family, sent to the army instead. So despite being enemies, Christand’s brilliant achievements inspired him.

If they had been born in the same country, Aleha would have been a devote follower of Bogan.

This is the first time Aleha faces Christand in the same position of general.

His role is to intentionally create a stalemate, occasionally skirmishing but avoiding a decisive battle and locking down the enemy forces.

Aleha would like to defeat Christand and is slightly dissatisfied with this role, but also believes that nobody else can contain Bogan.

Because he had studied Christand more than anyone else, he could understand Christand’s thinking.

Aleha had stabilised the stalemate and believed he had seen through Christand’s plans, which is why Bogan’s sudden movement confused him.

The enemy had shifted camp to the east.

To the side of the eastern mountains――what is the aim behind this bold move?

Bogan might have moved most of his forces to the east, but breaking through the northern forest is still impossible.

It would require vast amounts of manpower and stretch out the supply lines.

The Holy Elsren Empire’s land mostly consists of plains and the Empire’s soldiers are not used to fighting in a forest. The Empire also produces many good horses and has added nomads to their forces. The strength of the Empire’s army is their powerful cavalry, losing that greatly reduces their capabilities.

No matter which path they took, if they did not defeat the enemy’s main force, they would be flanked and be in a predicament.

That is the conclusion he arrived at after considering his own forces.

Naturally the enemy also made that bold move with this in mind.

They saw through his intentions of creating a stalemate and is confident that the Empire is not aiming to break through the north.

There is a certain flow in both tactics and strategy.

It requires an extreme amount of effort to change this flow once it has started.

The invasion force’s current plan is to invade the south.

It is impossible to change that by now and Aleha is forced to respond with these conditions.

“What is his aim? ……either way, we must also move. We will move camp to the east.”

If left alone, Christand’s position would allow him to easily target the Empire’s supply lines.

No matter the reason, the enemy is a force of twenty thousand.

They had to match the enemy’s movements.

“……ah, so that’s why.”

Aleha smiled.

He had examined the land around the pieces and quickly understood Christand’s intentions.

A strange movement――a very un-Bogan-like movement.

“It’s probably a coordinated move with the enemy’s foolish central army. They’re trying to dam the river.”

It is not Bogan’s plan.

Aleha saw a larger overall strategy behind the Christand army’s movements.

The enemy’s capital is in a mess with the struggle over succession, so they had been forced to be reactive even in this predicament.

There had probably been some popular opinion rushing them to take back Wulfenite, so the Kingdom’s central army must have made a plan for that.

And Bogan has been ordered to assist by damming the river.

“Just to dry up Wulfenite’s moat? Unthinkable of that famous Christand.”

Damming a river is extremely difficult.

The dam itself would become a second key location after the headquarters, forcing them to split their forces.

The enemy already has inferior numbers and doing this when the Empire is free to move is reckless.

“……I see, then.”

“Yeah, it’s time. Our goal was to create a stalemate, but if we can defeat the Christand army, we would gain a large advantage……even if the general is great, when the country is so incompetent, it’s pitiful.”

Aleha had been dissastifed with creating a stalemate.

His respect for Bogan had grown even as he was humiliated by Bogan in his defeats.

These feelings are why Aleha was delighted as he made the decision.

“We will deploy the army to the east. First we will break the dam and setback the enemy’s plans. Our casualties will be large when crossing the river to fight, but greater honour awaits us. The empire will no longer taste defeat at the hands of Christand.”

The men smiled and clenched their fists as they listened to Aleha’s proclamation.

They had defeated many formidable enemies under Aleha’s superb command.

They have seen his skills in his rapid blitz invasion and occupation.

His subordinates believed that Aleha should have been the one in charge of invading the south――and they delighted at this opportunity.

The popularity, trust and faith that Aleha has built up is proof of his greatness.

As long as they follow him, everything will work out――his devoted followers felt no apprehension.

“Yes sir!”

That is why nobody had any misgivings about giving up the initiative so easily.

And they stepped into the battlefield they would never return from.

――Information is delayed.

There are scouts and spies that seek out enemy information.

But they are human and even with horses, it would take time if there is distance.

And when information is delayed, naturally response is also delated.

By the time the Holy Elsren Empire’s army arrived, the battlefield had already become a muddy quagmire.

The water that had overflowed from the southern Bezren river has soaked into the land. The soil is largely clay, causing the armoured soldiers to sink down to their ankles, draining their stamina and causing discomfort.

Aleha could not be sure if this was a coincidence.

No, deep down, he was uneasy――maybe the enemy had lured them here.

But either way, they needed to prevent the enemy’s dam and in order to do that, they had to come here.

Because Aleha saw this as an assist to an attack on Wulfenite, Aleha had to make this decision.

Exactly because Aleha knew Bogan Christand better than anyone else, he interpreted this sudden weird movement as an order by the Kingdom’s capital.

The Empire has the advantage in numbers.

The Empire ate up a large chunk of territory in their blitz invasion and the disordered Kingdom is in a predicament.

If Christand were to lose an engagement in this situation, the Kingdom would not just be in a predicament, it would definitely collapse.

Any sane general would be painfully aware of this heavy responsibility.

It is unthinkable that someone in that position would choose this place as a battlefield just to take back the initiative to deal a painful blow.

And most of all, Aleha knows that Bogan Christand is more cautious than any other man.

Aleha is not a foolish general.

He is skilled and with time and experience, he would have become a great general remembered by history.

But at this time he was still young and did not know to reconsider his own decisions.

This was the turning point.

Even if the river is dammed, Wulfenite is still tough.

Even if Christand’s intentions are as Aleha imagined, the Empire could easily hold out.

Aleha should have realised the foolishness of entering this place, retreat and maintained a defensive line.

But he was young and seeked prefection.

Aleha set up camp across the river from Christand, but he did not fight.

The river is wide and shallow in this area, the riverbed mostly gravel, even with water, it is possible to break through.

But if Aleha sent in his forces in this situation, there is the possibility of the enemy breaking the dam and suffering large losses in the resulting flood.

A careless attack is dangerous.

The soldiers are also tired because of the muddy ground.

There are many cases of carriages getting stuck and he had to mobolise the cavalry to help them.

His forces are split and he cannot attack immediately.

“……what is that?”

But at this point, something new rushed Aleha.

By the river――on the west side, where the enemy’s right wing is, a crude fortress is being constructed.

It is so crude that it is more scaffolding than a fort.

But it’s existence is still a threat.

How did they get the resources for that in this short amount of time――then he looked at the river.

I see, Aleha glared at the fortress.

They had probably thrown logs that they had cut in the mountains into the river before damming it, allowing the logs to flow down here.

They had probably focused on building it quickly.

The roof is just a layer of branches.

The barricade is full of gaps, simply logs hammered into the ground at regular intervals and connected with rope.

But the branches are enough to stop arrows and the barricade would slow a charge and stop horses.

If it is completed, it will be an even larger threat.

It is built on the area most suitable for a river crossing.

Any further west, the river grows narrower and deeper, the flow also becomes visibly faster.

Which means the left side of the battlefield is blocked off.

Going around it would be difficult.

Seeing the enemy’s unexpectedly thought out preparations, Aleha’s uneasiness grew

-End-